In the next three to five years, the City of Whittlesea faces the exciting prospect of being Victoria’s fastest growing community. It is well placed to handle this due to its rigorous approach to forward planning.
Whittlesea Councillor John Fry said that the City of Whittlesea has adopted a highly detailed approach to planning, through our policy settings in the Municipal Strategic Statement.
“It is a plan first approach,” he said. “We have established highly detailed plans and maps for developers. This means that developers can look at the plans with a high degree of confidence. Because we have such detailed knowledge of the area, we can then approach developers with confidence in relation to development contributions.
“Current and proposed projects in the City of Whittlesea will lead to $240 million in developer contributions for infrastructure in the next ten years.”
The Mernda, Aurora and Laurimar residential developments are excellent examples of Council’s best practice approach to urban planning. They are sustainable developments with a strong focus on community building and environmental sustainability.
This approach is earning plaudits across the country.
In 2002, the Mernda Strategy Plan won a Planning Institute of Australia (Victoria) award and was also commended at the national level. Over the past six years, Council has won awards for all of its major planning projects, including the Cooper Street Development Plan, the Rural Review and the Epping North Development Plan. These awards show that the City of Whittlesea continues to set the benchmark for other Local Governments to follow.
